Talk:Space opera

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[edit] Old talk

The latest version corresponds to definition of space opera inthe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (and others). Barsoom series is more like a combination of Heroic Fantasy and Planetary Romance Skysmith

Attempting to keep the Neutral point of view in the entry.

It's popular stuff. Most people think it's fun. It has a venerable history.

It bugs some sci-fi pedants. Even many of them don't mind putting the mind on hold and having some fun with it once in a while.

Chill, friend. True though it may be, we must remain neutral.

You ever wonder how much those photographed old magazines are worth? whew ! Terryeo 10:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

It's not easy to distinguish from soft science fiction, since it ostensibly deals with some human consequence of (vaguely defined) technologies. The only difference seems to be that space opera is lightweight, in literary terms.

Soft sci-fi is different in its attitude to science, though. Soft sci-fi either concentrates on areas of science other than physics, or simply plays it down. Space opera ignores it completely to fit in with the special effects budget, IMHO. --Robert Merkel
To be considered space opera as distinguished from soft SF, a work ought to have an identifiably operatic element about it, either in style or structure. Not just character-oriented drama, over-the-top character-oriented drama. 18.24.0.120
Those who consider Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky and similar works to be "new space opera" would disagree with all the above points. This work, and similar works often labeled "space opera" are not "lightweight" by intention, nor by the views of many readers and critics. Nor are this and similar works entirely "soft" SF. Certinlay such works do not simply ignore scientific realities.


Personally i would not call such works "space opera". I would reserve that label for works with shallow characterization, and no serious attention to the scientific reality behind their gimmics. I would disqualify anything with a literary level higher than E.E. Smith's classic lensman series from the 'space opera" level. This position is a minority one, however. DES 16:06, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Does this article include written space opera, like "The Reality Dysfunction" by Peter F. Hamilton? --Magnus Manske

Yes, the Lensman series is print space opera... of course there is Aniara to consider, which is actually a space opera, I believe,

Yes the term was first used for written works, and is still frequently used in that connection. The main other use is in connection with movies, such as Star Wars which is a space opera by almost anyone's defination. Note that the term comes through "Horse Opera" (which was used for radio and written westerns) and "Soap opera", and the connection with the musical sense of "opera" is thus more remote. A good recent example might be the Honor Harrignton series by David Webber. DES 16:06, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Hi, I found what I think is a really good space opera "grading scale" (from Ultra-Hard to Very-Soft) at this site: [1] Do you think it should be incorporated? - At18 09:38 Apr 24, 2003 (UTC)

Perhaps it should go to the general science fiction article. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 18:22, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Changed The Heroic Legend of Arslan to Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Same author but Arslan is historical, not SF.

[edit] Is Star Trek space opera?

I have always consider Trek in a different category than, say, Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica. Those are more mythological, whereas Trek is more introspective, philosophical. Those other are philosophical too, but in a totally different way. So should we keep the link on our list or no?--Dudeman5685 13:40, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I would say that Trek is a classic Space Opera. After all, it is the continuing saga that follows a a set of characters and follows their thoughts, feelings and emotions. This is classic 'Operatic' style in much the same way as Rawhide or Gunsmoke were a Horse Operas. Actually, personally I think of the Star Wars/Battlestar Galatica (original not reimagined) as being different in that they are Science Fantasy - with magic powers etc. This does not exclude them from also being Space Operas, but may explain the difference you note between them. --68.81.2.64 22:47, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] James White

I think that his Sector General series is a space opera. Although it concerns only one place (space hospital) and has few battles, I think it passes the overall definition test. Do you agree? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus 18:02, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] New Space Opera

The talk about "new space opera" is very vague. What is "new space opera"? This wikipedia article doesn't tell me (4-15-05) and it's probably bogus anyway. Are there any references? Anywhere on the Internet that someone has proposed this term?

(The above was posted by User:Lousyd)
This term is frequently used in online discussion of science fiction (for example in the usenet group rec.arts.sf.written). It is generally used to refer to works that have the wide or cosmic scope and feel of such classic works of space opera as the Lensman series, but attempt greater and deeper character development, and have more literary asperations in general. The classic examples are A fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. but there are many other works of this sort. Such works are generally plot-driven, as classic space opera is, and try to evoke some of the same "sense of wonder" but attempt higher quality of writing skill and greater literary pretensions. Some would put the work of Lois M. Bujold in the same category. Others would cite C. J. Cherryh.
Personally I find the term almost an oxymoron. I feel that works of high literary quality are, by definition, not space opera. Many people disagree with this view. DES 16:06, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
As one of the many people who disagree, I'll say this... Character-driven plots would seem to differentiate 'new' space-opera from the older space-opera. I think quite a lot of high-quality literature is based on character-driven plots, or uses deep characterization. Absence of hard science might differentiate new space-opera from hard sci-fi, but I don't really see why this would mean it couldn't be literature. Many people consider Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, whose setting is fantastic, to be literature. Stories like Kafka's Metamorphosis are totally unrealistic, and yet are widely accepted as high-quality literature. I'm not saying that there have been any high-quality literature 'new' space-operas yet, but I don't see any reason why it would "by definition" be impossible. WhiteC 00:54, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
To be clear, I like much of the stuff that some people label "new space opera", I just dislike the term. In fact I think that Vinge et. al. is considerably better written than Smith, and I prefer it. I don't argue that such works are not literature. (However, IMO, most works labeled as "new space opera" are still plot-driven, not character driven. Bujold may be an exception, but thsoe of her works most often so labeld are precisely those least character-driven, particularly The Vor Game.
I want to keep the term "space opera" as a term of abuse, or at least a term descriptive of fluff like Star Wars, so I would cap its use at about the literary level of the lensman books, using a different term for the stuff some call "new space opera". That said, there are some similaities between "new space opera" and classic space opera, which the related terms highllight. If people would always use "new space opera" as a new, related term, and not consider it a subset of "space opera" I would have far less problem with it. I think that the wider usage is broadening the term "space opera" until it is not of much use, that is all.
In short I am not arguing that wide-scope or "cosmic" works of SF can not have high literary standards, I am arguing that any work that has such standards is not "space opera" because part of the defination of "space opera" is (or IMO should be) precisely the absence of such standards. DES 01:20, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Fair enough, but this is Wikipedia -- we're supposed to be descriptive, not prescriptive, right? And, descriptively speaking, "space opera" has lost its perjorative connotations. When the SF world talks about Iain Banks's SF novels or a book like M. John Harrison's Light, "space opera" is what they call it, like it or not... David M 19:12, 5 Oct 2005 (UTC)

FWIW, Gary K. Wolfe and I wrote a dialogue, "Duet, With No Fat Lady," for the August 2003 Locus in which we tried to figure out just what was going on with NSO. That issue also had pieces on NSO by M. John Harrison, Gwyneth Jones, Ken MacLeod, and Paul McAuley, plus interviews with Alastair Reynolds and Charles Stross. See this link for the table of contents (but not the content) of the issue. [[2]] Might be a useful reference. BTW, the "Characteristics" list might apply to the oldest of Old Space Opera, but not very well to what writers such as, say, Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson were producing even in the 1950s. It might have some relevance to other media, but in print SF it's so out of date as to amount to a parody. RLetson 06:21, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Went ahead and added the Locus Special Section to the "Articles" section. RLetson 19:52, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Good changes. But, would you really qualify Banks as being scientifically rigorous? Excellent author, no doubt, and I love to read him, but hardly hard sci fi. --68.81.2.64 22:57, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Huh? Topic in this section is new space opera, not hard SF--not that the two are opposites anyway. RLetson 20:08, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

It notes as the last sentence "New space opera is therefore scientifically rigorous while ambitious..." and so was wondering that was appropriate considering Banks is being used as an example.--68.81.2.64 22:45, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, I see the problem. I edited the sentence to remove the implication that NSO is necessarily scientifically rigorous--that's a variable rather than a constant (though NSO strongly tends to take its physics and astronomy more seriously than the ancestral form did). RLetson 18:30, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

You do have a good point there. People like Reynolds in particular could be classified as Hard Sci Fi. Perhaps you might want to venture : "While it does retain the interstellar scale and grandeur of traditional space opera, it also frequently associated with a high degree of scientific rigor." Or something like that. --68.81.2.64 22:21, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The new section beginning with the new development among the American addition seems a bit out of plce in this section. Perhaps it would be better suited for the Military Science Fiction and Space Opera area?

[edit] Space opera and Military Science Fiction

Sorry for intervening, but I got the impression that the two genres are a bit the same. Both are revolving around Space battles, advanced techs, highly developped civilizations, aliens and etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just get the feeling that the genres are very similar and IMHO deserve one place, not two.

Military SF focuses on (far-future) military characters and military life. Most space opera doesn't have military characters as protagonists and, where it does, often takes them out of their normal context -- more Apocalypse Now or Three Kings than Black Hawk Down, if you know what I mean. Also, I think it could be argued military SF tends to have complex plots playing out against a fairly static backdrop, while "new" space opera, at least, tends more toward events and discoveries with universe-changing consequences. That said, there clearly are plenty of books that could be said to fit in both categories. David M 19:12, 5 Oct 2005 (UTC)


I'd be very glad if you can recommend me something very good reading. Something like Star Wars and Star Trek, but... not them, specifically. Something standalone, good pace, great characters, something which isn't delved from a movie or series. A couple of books that will blow me out of my mind, not some shit. Thank you very much: Painbearer 00:51, July 23, 2005 (UTC)

You might try Walter Jon Williams' Praxis books. David M 19:12, 5 Oct 2005 (UTC)
Also any of Neil Asher's "Polity" series. RLetson 06:31, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How about?

How about Honor Harrington?

Michael 17:14, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

What about it? It is already mentioned in the 'books' section. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 10:23, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sample space opera backgrounds

Hmm. I'm sure this will be a controversial suggestion, but here goes:

Sample space opera backgrounds has grown to be more than 50% of the article. I think that's way too big. I propose to cut that relatively huge list down to a maximum of a dozen entries. IMO, the Lensman and Skylark series by E. E. Smith absolutely must be on the list. beyond that, I'm open to suggestions. And, yes, I do realize how hard it is to see one's favorite books removed from this article, but I really do think the list needs to be trimmed significantly.

FWIW, I've read at least 90% of the print SF listed (including about 20 Perry Rhodan novels), seen samples of all of the TV shows except some of the anime, and done enough gaming of various sorts (majored in bridge and D&D in college) to think that no game that emphasizes roleplaying will ever qualify. I specifically played both Traveller and Space Opera. I don't (personally) agree that there can be any definition of space opera that includes scientific rigor, but realize that there are those who disagree. I (obviously) also believe that "new space opera" is a separate genre from traditional space opera.

My list would be:

[edit] Books

[edit] Television

  • The original Battlestar Galactica series
  • Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
  • Star Trek the original series
  • Captain Video

[edit] Film

  • Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI

I'm open to suggestions, changes, and reasonable additions.

Ken 04:21, August 1, 2005 (UTC)

I am stronly opposed to cutting any information. Wiki is not paper, size is not the problem here. I prefer long, comprehensive list to a tiny one. As for definition, you can of course adjust it, prefrably by listing several different versions. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 08:52, 5 August 2005 (UTC)
I think that the book list should be made more concise and list series, rather than individual books (for example, it currently lists all of Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space books), though I agree with Piotrus in that it should still be comprehensive. If it's anything else, there are two problems: 1) It'll be someone's opinion on what the best books are, and thus ceases to be objective, and 2) someone else may just come along in the future and add missing the items before reading this discussion... --Leperous 10:16, 5 August 2005 (UTC)
Now here's a phrase I never thought I'd say: I agree with Leperous (nothing to do with anything you've ever said, mind you... just becaus of the name). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.81.2.64 (talk) 22:54, 22 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Suggestion

I'm for this and this is what I suggest as a list for the Sample opera backgrounds.

[edit] Books

[edit] Comic Strips

[edit] Television

[edit] Film

Fuck the manga. It's redundant... Painbearer 09:03, August 5, 2005 (UTC)

Please use civil language. I definetly think that anime and manga should be listed here, as well as some cartoons (Ulysses 31 comes to mind). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 10:30, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I think that too much exemples are on there, so anime and manga are overburdening the article. IMHO they're redundant. Vast of those book exemples also are overburdening. If I were on the head of the article I'll half-"behead" it. And my list I think it's excellent start.

p.s. yeah, you can cite Alistair Reynolds' books a couple of times. No matter they are one saga, you can do it a couple of times. That's very stupid and very great idea. *rolling eyes*

Painbearer 10:44, August 5, 2005 (UTC)

First, I'm hoping to create a better encyclopedia article here. The list, as it exists, overpowers the rest of the article.
Addressing several points:
Wikipedia is not paper: no, the article itself isn't huge. However, the list of samples, if removed from the article, is as large as the rest of the article. On screen, it's larger because there's more white space in a list than text paragraphs. That's unbalanced, and I would like to fix it. The goal of the list should be to provide examples, not a list of everything that might meet the criteria. Milieus listed here should be those that (subjectively :-) are the best examples we can come up with, examples that we would give our friends if they asked us what space opera they should read first.
Objective vs. subjective: the list is already subjective. Everyone who comes to the article has a favorite, or several favorite, SF novels (or TV show, or movie, etc.). Those novels get added. The result is the list that exists today. My goal here is to create a list that A) informs the reader, and B) doesn't dominate the article. How to deal with people who come along and add to the list? Well, the easy way would be to invite them to propose additions here, right?
Anime: I'm not a fan, really, of series anime. (Feature length is a different matter; I've liked most of the anime films I've seen.) I've seen some, and the impression I get is that they abandon scientific rigor (part of "new space opera" according to the article) and focus on characters (weak characterization is a characteristic of "traditional" space opera). So I don't think anime fits. I'm certainly willing to see one or two listed anyway, if others think that they suit the article.
Multiple cites of a series: I'm strongly against this, as it bloats the list, with no real benefit in terms of additional information. A series, as I see it, is really a single story that was too large to tell in one book. I would prefer to see the series listed as, for example, the Skylark series, by E. E. Smith, instead of listing each book separately.
Painbearer's list: I would strike the Star Trek and Star Wars entries from the Books section, because they're already listed under the medium where they started. I would also strike the Duniverse, the Foundation series, the Uplift universe, and the Vorkosigan saga, because they're about characters (real, three dimensional characters), political entities, etc. From the Television section, I would strike either B5 or Battlestar Galactica as redeundant, I would strike Farscape, and I would strike Stargate and it's spin-off, for the same basic reason. The super-science is secondary to the story, and the story is about the people, not the action. I would include an anime or two, if we can figure out which ones are the best examples of space opera or new space opera.
Ken 13:50, August 5, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Star Wars and Star Trek

Both of those franchises have produced very successfull book branches. Shouldn't they be included in the book list or in the game list? I mean, especially Star Wars is dominant over much of the entertainment industry: book, computing gaming, role-playing games, TV, Cartoons. I mean guys, they deserve some... special section. As well as multi-billion blok-busters, the movies have spawned extremely successfull other branches. Okay, okay - Star Trek is albeit shite - I agree. But, Star Wars, you agree that this is cultural phenomena in all aspects of the entertainment industry. Painbearer 21:45, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

I assume this is a response to my suggestion. Yes, both franchises have produced successful spin-offs. However, those franchises are best known for the television (Star Trek) and film (Star Wars) series that spawned the spin-offs. As I said above, I think the list needs to be cut down from the present 75 or so to about a dozen. To do that, I think it would be unreasonable to list a franchise more than once, so I would say that for a multi-media franchise, we should pick the most notable medium (usually the one where it starts) and list that alone. By the way, if you have a "new space opera" background or two that you feel exemplifies that type of space opera, I think it (they) should be included. All the samples I listed are traditional space opera. Ken 23:46, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

I agree that the Book section is rather big, so I am with thumbs up to your suggestion. I'm not such a big expert on Space opera, as I've read only the Dune series, but if I were on the head, I would list the best and most classic exemples of the genres. Thus, I endorse your initiative and suggestion and I hope that it will become better article.

p.s. actually it wasn't supposed to be a response to your suggestion, yet... it turned to be. :)) Painbearer 09:31, August 4, 2005 (UTC)


  • why no mention of Star Wars in the main article (its mentioned in the list only) ? Star Wars is the most famous Space Opera, which became a standard for cinema

the Space Opera is not only the books! The number of people who watched Star Wars is much bigger than number of people who have read that books (the movie watched even illeterate people frpm the third world). So the main article MUST mention Star Wars too.

[edit] The Inhibitor Series

I'm thinking now that the list-the-series-as-such idea is better than the individual books. But I think that Alastair Reynolds' Inhibitor Series should be listed. His first novel (Revelation Space) won an award from an SF magazine, and he then went on to write additional books for the series.

SnoopY

[edit] Sci-fi or Fantasy?

I was having a discussion with a friend who claims Space Opera as a genre is not a sub-genre of Science-Fiction but actually of Fantasy. He claims works like Star Wars have futuristic technological advances but they are not a significant part of the story to warrent inclusion in the sci-fi genre. He claims these stories are really fantasy because they have little focus on 'science' and instead rely on action and adventure and sometimes magical elements(the force in Star Wars). I was wondering if anyone could give me a good arguement for Space Opera being listed as a sub-genre of Science-Fiction rather than Fantasy? And if there isn't a good arguement for it not being considered Fantasy maybe that should be stated in the definition. Bodhi395

That's an interesting argument, which definitely has some merit. I don't think anyone would deny space opera relies on action and adventure. It doesn't really explore science very much, but nevertheless is usually put in a futuristic environment with high technology. I think that is the only difference really--fantasy often has a medieval-type background, whereas space opera has a futuristic one. If the Lensman series (by EE Doc Smith) had been set mostly in the past with knights instead of spacemen, and gods and demons instead of Arisians and Eddorians, it would be fantasy rather than space opera. But the story wouldn't have to change too much... just the setting. At least, that's my opinion. (Anime is often difficult to classify here--would you call it fantasy or space-opera, or just anime due to the oriental setting?) WhiteC 04:01, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
While I can appreciate the argument 'now much 'sci' is there in space opera', I think the bottom line is that space opera uses science artifacts, while fantasy uses magic. Of course, even such simple definition will leave out some books in the cold - for example, books having both advanced technology and magic, or playing on the Clarke's third law, like Scrapped Princess anime (one of my favourite examples of such a case)... --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 14:09, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
I believe it was put best when called 'Science Fiction Fantasy,' all one phrase. 68.225.242.19 04:23, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
Debating the line between science fiction and fantasy is sometimes entertaining but rarely fruitful. --Chronodm 03:45, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
The Science fantasy page puts a lot of light on this topic, and actually states that Space Opera is not a sub genre of eiter Science Fiction or Fantasy, but Science Fantasy, the bridge between them.

[edit] The first space opera

Quoting from [3] "In 1897 H.G. Wells created one of the greatest science fiction masterpieces ever written-The War Of The Worlds. The story was serialized in newspapers across America and proved to be so popular that the Hearst newspaper group commissioned a sequel, to be written by their own science editor - Garrett Putnam Serviss. This sequel appeared in February of 1898 and quickly entered into the annals of science fiction history. It is one of the rarest and possibly one of the most important stories ever to appear in the genre. Serviss procured the cooperation of the famous inventor Thomas Edison and wove a totally distinct and astonishing tale of humans invading Mars. Whereas Wells had composed a story of human suffering, Serviss invented the space techno-thriller. This book contains the first space battle to ever appear in print. It is the first alien abduction story. The birthplace of the hand-held phaser-gun. It has asteroid mining and the first truly functional spacesuits. It is a cornucopia of technical ingenuity. The hero of the story is Edison himself." The orginal scans, now in PD, are available at [4]. Do you think this merits the title of 'the first space opera'? --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 19:14, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Coverage of Edison's Conquest of Mars added. --John Nagle 18:21, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Doctor Who?

I gather that there's been some debate over how long the lists at the bottom of the page should be, so I'm asking before putting something else in. Would it be appropriate to add Doctor Who to the television list? It's not exclusively space opera, but many stories such as Frontier in Space and The Parting of the Ways from the new series certainly fall into the category. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 19:42, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

The thing is though, there are actually very few space opera Who stories compared to the vast majority of the serials. You may as well put it in a Western category because of The Gunfighters. In my opinion, obviously. Angmering 23:29, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
That's true. I suppose it's better just to add the (few) space opera episodes to Category:Space opera — which I've done. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 23:48, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] RfC/poll – Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker: one article or two?

What do you think? E Pluribus Anthony 19:35, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

One. --68.81.2.64 22:57, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "LoGH" and "Crest of the Stars" are anime?

Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Crest of the Stars are novel, though have the anime version. I understand almost nobody(in the English-language-country) have read these novels because there is no English version. However, I feel the article to have treated this works as anime is improper, because these works were famous before making an anime.

I want to know the criterion of this article. Do you treat as novel, if the original-book on English version has come out?

I think a present treatment is impolite to the authors of both works, Yoshiki Tanaka and Hiroyuki Morioka. Because they wrote exactly as a novel, and didn't write as an original of the anime. I consider it is necessary rather to delete these works from the article if nobody has a mind to treat these works as a novel.

I was disappointed having deleted my correction frequently by those who do not understand an intention. But I expect you have a respect also for creators of the foreign country.--Morio 01:30, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Probably when you fixed that, it was "corrected" back the old, incorrect version by editors who knew of the anime but not the novel. Put a note in your edit summary pointing to this talk page. I don't think anyone is trying to deny credit to the authors, they probably jsut didn't know.Zabieru 00:28, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
I'd suggest leaving them in anime section and adding them to novel section. This way both sides should be happy.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 04:59, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Misnomer?"

The term "space opera" is not a misnomer. It's derived from soap opera (through horse opera, depending on who you ask), which refers to the emotional content and melodrama characteristic of opera, rather than to the singing. I added a sentence to the lead about how the term isn't directly a reference to opera, but I don't think we should really have even that, since that should be pretty clear from the links to soap and horse opera. Zabieru 00:28, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Respectable

I reworded the "respectable" part above. If the author being referred to used it, it would be made known it's his word choice, otherwise it seems we are implying it's not "respectable", scare quotes or no. Definition is muddy and needs some shoring up, as this term is found confusing by a lot of people. --Shadow Puppet 14:21, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Among the practitioners of the new space opera are

This needs some more qualifying. Do these authors claim their work comes under this description? Also, the anime stuff is getting into cartoon/pure fantasy. I'm not going to mess with it, just taking a second look. --Shadow Puppet 14:33, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Revert explanations

Reverted two edits by 129.21.114.159 which appeared to be vandalism, since Star Trek and Star Wars were removed from the reference list with no explanation, not even an edit summary. This IP's only previous 'contribution' was the addition of poorly-written panegyrics to Adolf Hitler, on that page. 129.21.114.159, if you're reading this, I hope you'll not take offense if I'm wrong, and that you'll create an account and remember to summarize your edits and to explain on the talk page any edits you think might be controversial. Thanks! Zabieru 08:42, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

I reverted an edit made by 155.192.161.3 in which they, without explanation, deleted the Lensman series from the Books list. The Lensman series is commonly cited as the classic example of written space opera. Probably this edit was made due to inexperience rather than as vandalism. If the editor reads this, please create an account and read some of the help pages. Zabieru 20:02, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Games

I wonder if we should cut some of the games from the list. In particular, Starcraft doesn't seem to fit, given that although there's room in the universe for space opera, it's not a dominant influence on the gameplay or the story. X-Com seems entirely irrelevant to the genre, as it did not in fact feature any characters, period, or any extrasolar space travel, so I'm going to remove it immediately, but Starcraft may be more contentious, so perhaps I could ask for opinions?

In addition, I didn't play Alpha Centauri, so I won't suggest that we delete it, but wasn't it more of a planetary colonization story?

Zabieru 09:03, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


Is there a reason the various space opera game genres are not in alpha order? Also, the StarCraft description seems unnecessarily long, and the second sentence is redundant (the first sentence already calls it one of the best and most popular PC games in the world, and it's in the space opera section, so the sentence "Probably one of the best known examples of Space Opera in computer gaming" doesn't really add anything). How about cutting it down to: "a real time strategy game, often cited as one of the best and most popular PC games in the world"? Please note that I have no objection to StarCraft being listed, I just think the description can be limited to one line. ASpafford 22:10, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

I'd suggest we define first what a space opera game is. I can see how some adventure games like Spacequest would fit in here, as well as Homeworld RTS, and even the Starcraft - but we need a definition. X-Com is certainly not a space opera, and SMAC doesn't really qualify IMHO - the entire story, save prequel, takes place on a planet. For example, I am pretty sure that every single 4X and Space flight simulator would classify as space opera - maybe instead of duplicating those lists, we can simply list genres? Also, what about military space operas - should they be duplicated here?--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 05:04, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

The games subsection of sample space opera backgrounds looks like it could do with a lot of work. The Role-Playing Games section looks like it may be all right. The Boardgames is where I start getting sceptical, especialy on Warhammer 40k. The Computer and Console game sections looks really hit or miss, and I do not think that any of the First-person shooters or Real-time strategy games are of the Space Opera genre.
Military SciFi is probably more accurate for most of these items and so they should probably be removed from the list.
—Asatruer 14:05, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rewrite

I did a rewrite and re-organization on the very muddled "History" and "Characteristics" sections; not adding much new, but moving sentences and paragraphs around and improving the wording. I am left with these two references:

"Fritz Leiber's The Wanderer tells a story about a situation when Earth sees one episode of interstellar conflict. Others, like Samuel R. Delany in Nova, refer to mythological concepts."

I cannot tell what, if any, aspect of space opera these two were originally intended to illuminate. So I am removing them until such time as someone figures out where to put them back in. RandomCritic 20:11, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I like this definition...

"General term for a subgenre of adventure SF in which the men are heroic, the women beautiful, the monsters monstrous, and the spaceships make whooshing sounds in hard vacuum." http://www.catb.org/~esr/sf-words/glossary.html#space_opera

Churchh 21:19, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Clever, but not encyclopedic. Also, contemptuous, and so POV, and it's certainly not expansive enough to include all space opera. Zabieru 01:47, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
I don't think it's really "contemptuous"... Churchh 20:57, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
Eh, a lot of ESR's casual writing reads to me like he's being catty and looking down on something he doesn't enjoy, as though his enjoyment were the ultimate arbiter of quality. So maybe it's just my dislike for his style. But all the same, I can give counterexamples of every one of those qualities, so I don't think it's something that should go in the article, unless you want to make a section for "Self-described hacker historian opinions on space opera." Zabieru 09:51, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Space Opera in Scientology

Here is a link, an expert's opinion, which expands on the how and why of Space Opera in Scientology. [5] Terryeo 19:56, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

  • Perhaps this should go to Talk:Space opera in Scientology doctrine?--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 03:39, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
    I've introduced it there, too. The problem is, a group of anti-scientology editors insist on working toward presenting the same anti-scientology POV they have created for years on Clambake.org and alt.net.scientology. It is simply not factual to say that "Space Opera plays a role in Scientology beliefs". Terryeo 19:26, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
    Why, Terryeo -- I thought you were claiming that Scientology didn't have beliefs. Are you now saying that Scientology does have beliefs, but despite what L. Ron Hubbard had to say on the specific subject of space opera, space opera plays no role in them? -- Antaeus Feldspar 02:29, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Space opera and planetary romance

I've revised this to sharpen the distinction, and to correct the impression that Brackett wrote much space opera. Instead, the useful contrast in her work would be between her Burroughs-influenced stories and something like her ESB script--which might be seen as her homage to her husband, whose space opera credientials are much stronger. RLetson 19:40, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Good edit, RLetson. Rick Norwood 20:02, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Bat Durston

Restoring the information that transplanted Westerns are called Bat Durstons -- they are. The Galaxy ad was, of course, the source of this name. 01:49, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I've been in science fiction fandom since before the Bat Durston ad appeared, and have never heard "Bat Durstons" used as a noun. Please cite a reference. Rick Norwood 14:35, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I second Rick Norwood on this point--been watching the field's scholarship since the early 1960s and attending cons since '69 and never came across this usage--though the allusion would be familiar to older fans. RLetson 03:37, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Unless someone can point to an authority or source that confirms the use of "Bat Durston" as described above, I suggest that assertion be edited out the article. RLetson 18:05, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why does Star Wars need to be repeated several times?

I think mentioning the film is effective enough seeing that the films are what influenced the books and comic books, etc.

[edit] 2001: Space Opera?

I did never thought about 2001: A Space Odyssey being a space opera. Despite the title it has all the aspects of hard sci-fi, and so few of space opera. I even think Arthur Clarke would disagree with it being called space opera. So it seems to be original research to include it on the film section exemplifying the genre (in my opinion it´s also leading to confusion, so people will mistakenly take 2001 for a space opera). Can someone explain to me why this entry is on the list (based on reliable sources)? If no, I will remove it. Regards Loudenvier 20:56, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

It's hardly a space opera. --John Nagle 21:04, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Warhammer 40K

This is not a space opera. There's no clear-cut line between good and evil. There's little to no romance. There is at least a nod made to some physical properties (ships don't "turn on a dime, without the boring necessity of decelerating", and warp flights take quite some time - multiple weeks). It's far too dark for space opera. As such, I'm going to remove it from the article. If this is unacceptable, then message me to discuss this here. Supersheep 23:30, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. --John Nagle 00:01, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Music section?

The music section is kind of marginal. Is there really "space opera music"? There's that stuff Queen did for the Flash Gordon movie, Holst's The Planets, and the overdone orchestral material John Williams writes for Star Wars. But the stuff listed is mostly irrelevant to space opera; the connection, if any, is mostly in the titles. --John Nagle 02:41, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How about Space Punk?

Why Space Punk is not mentioned in definitions "Definitions by contrast" ? An example of Space Punk is space wars between Shapers and Mechanist of Bruce Sterling.

Personally, I would qualify Space Punk (ie. Bruce Sterlin) as a type Space Opera Noir: stuff like Alister Reynolds. On the other hand there is a good argument to be made that it might consist of a sub-sub-sub-gennre in it's own right. There is a big difference between the sort of Grand Sweeping Scale of say Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining) and the Revelation Space, and your more classic "punk" styles which are painted on a smaller canvas (though are by no means any less dynamic or artistic). Views? -- --68.81.2.64 17:29, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

One good reason for "space punk" not to be included here is the term's failure to appear in reviews, articles, or discussions of SF. The first 70 Google hits are about music, not SF narrative; and I don't recall seeing it used anywhere in connection with Sterling's work. This is not the place to introduce new terms, but to explain the meanings of established ones. RLetson 05:28, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some edits

Finally cut that "Bat Durston" reference--nobody was able to make a convincing case for it being a commonly-used descriptor for space-westerns. Also cut the military SF material from the New Space Opera section, gave it its own heading, and cleaned up the copy. RLetson 21:32, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Later: Merged the mil-SF material with the pre-existing section (I'd forgotten it was there).

[edit] Some possible cuts and serious revisions

  • I'd say it's time to cut the "Space western" section--the term has come to have a pretty specific meaning (apparently in comics and anime), but it isn't in common use among critics and scholars in the sense suggested here--there is, for example, not entry for it at the jessesword site, nor in Clute & Nicholls or Wolfe's Critical Terms. The fact that it's a descriptive term people have sometimes used doesn't necessarily make it a standard or common term in the field. It more properly belongs in a discussion of frontier themes in SF or in an article on the particular comics/anime examples.
  • I also suspect that the "Space Opera and Scientology" section is not very useful in an article devoted to a science fiction subgenre.
  • The "Characteristics" section is imprecise and ahistorical--some of those traits belong to stories written a half-century or more ago, or to TV/film traditions, or just to pulp SF. There are significant counter-examples for just about everything on the list. The only universal traits have to do with scale (of setting and action) and the emotional responses these are meant to evoke. The rest are variables dependent on period, publishing context, authorial outlook and skill, and so on. Any characteristics list needs to be rooted in reliable, authoritative sources and a sense of history--not any individual's preferences or idiosyncratic experience.
  • Might it be possible to move the Star Wars photo down to the film section? It sure isn't appropriate next to "New Space Opera." RLetson 22:27, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

I agree. Go ahead and start the revisions.Nemo69 00:21, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Did so--cut westerns and Scientology and tweaked a few other things. RLetson 23:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe it's time to clean up the endless lists, too--They're way too long, with too many "hey, how about my favorite?" entries, and some that just seem arbitrary. (I cut a few from the Music section, and I've got serious doubts about the items I left.) I really don't see the point of 40-plus games (subdivided into seven categories, yet). The anime sublist looks pretty straggly, too; and in fact I wonder whether we need all the print-medium backgrounds. The lists ought to be illustrative and typical, but they need not (and cannot) be exhaustive. I'd say ten print and five everything-else. (And is there any real space opera music? Not just SF, but space opera?) RLetson 23:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I have once again removed three doubtful items from the Music sub-list. Last time I did this, it got reverted without comment. I couldn't find any sources that would lead me to include these items in a list of "sample space opera backgrounds," but I'd be happy to hear of them. Until then, I take their presence to be based on someone's personal opinion. (The same thing might be said of many items on the other sub-lists. They all need pruning.) RLetson 21:05, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Anonymous edits

An anonymous editor recently went through the article, moving pieces around, changing formatting, and introducing usage, punctuation, and diction errors. I'd think that such extensive changes would rate at least a note here to indicate what's being edited and why. Why, for example, remove the link information for the Hartwell and Cramer essay? Why capitalize "space opera"? (It's not a proper noun.) Why de-italicize titles of books and films (standard US usage)? Why change US double quotation marks to UK singles? Why move the passage on Edison's Conquest of Mars to the middle of an explanation of the term's connotation? Why remove mention of exemplary planetary romance writers Vance, Farmer, and Silverberg while inserting the unnecessary point about Leigh Brackett's Empire Strikes Back script? Why re-introduce the unsourced (and, I suspect, unsource-able) Bat Durston factoid? If someone wants to argue for a particular sequence of topics or inclusion or exclusion of a particular example, fine--but it would be polite to drop by and make a case before making the changes. RLetson 01:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I have started to rework some of the changes mentioned above, starting with the lead paragraphs and the Articles section. I think the next-most-important section would be Characteristics, which badly needs the POV and plain old inaccuracies removed. RLetson 20:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Asking a question before Editing

Reading the examples of Space Operas and so forth in this article made me think that the Halo Universe could be included since it has the elements of space opera. Humans about to be wiped out, super weapons to destroy the known galaxy, Lady in distress (Cortana), etc. Wanted to ask your opinions before I placed the edit.

Lucky Foot 19:30, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

At the risk of playing the killjoy, what the article needs is a severe pruning of the lists. I keep arguing for short, clearly/authoritatively-defined lists of representative (or historically important) works that help to map the territory. I'm not familiar with the Halo Universe (it must be a game or a media product), but if it is historically important or recognized as genre-defining in its category, then one can/should make a case. But first, I think, we need to work out some reasonable ground rules for constructing lists of representative items. Otherwise, we wind up with straggly, indefinitely-long lists and arguments over which book/movie/TV show is really space-operatic. RLetson 04:23, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
"I agree with that. I'm not that familiar with alot of those things named on the list so I don't believe I'd be good for the job, but Halo is a game (some people love it, some people hate it) and it had a lot of the characteristics mentioned in the article. It was defining as it introduced a whole new idea in to science fiction and also was the best selling game for years after it was released for Xbox. More about Halo: Combat Evolved That's just my opinion though." Lucky Foot 15:32, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
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